Little Lives
by Laura Schiller
Summary: Set during "The Last Jedi", with references to "Solo". What might Chewbacca have been thinking during that scene with the roasted Porg?


Little Lives

By Laura Schiller

Based on: _Star Wars_

Copyright: Disney

/

The rodents of Ahch-To were staring at him, and Chewbacca didn't like it.

He had finally managed to catch one. They were faster than their chubby forms suggested, and truth be told, he had enjoyed the challenge. He was a good hunter, and it had been a while since he'd hunted anything as simple and straightforward as a good meal. Now it was skinned, gutted, and roasting on a spit over a campfire, browning nicely and sizzling with fat, and Chewbacca was so hungry he could almost taste the tender meat already …

If only the rest of the animals would stop _staring._

Such big round eyes they had, too. If they were sentient, those looks on their faces could easily be read as terror, grief or reproach.

"Go away!" he growled in Shyrriwook. "Shoo!"

They didn't budge.

"Go away, before I skewer the rest of you!"

He swiped a paw in their direction, heavy enough to crush one of them if he wanted. They scuttled back, cheeping, but kept their eyes fixed on the slowly turning roast over the campfire as if they couldn't – or wouldn't – look away.

The fur on the back of Chewbacca's neck began to stand on end.

Prey always ran from predator, that was the law of nature. They didn't stay to watch after the hunt was over. They definitely didn't stay in the face of further threats. These weren't animals dealing with a larger and stronger one. These were people paying their respects to a fallen comrade.

Chewbacca had killed a person. He'd almost eaten one.

_May the Force have mercy on my soul._

Many years ago, when he had been enslaved by the Empire, his captors had kept him so hungry that he'd started to devour whatever prisoners they threw into his cage just to survive. "The beast", they'd called him, and he really had been one, until another small and fragile alien had reminded him of who he really was.

Han Solo had spoken to him in Shyrriwook. Chewbacca always maintained that he owed a life debt to Han for rescuing him from prison, but he'd never told anyone – including Han – that those few words had been the real rescue. He'd made two vows that day: to protect that reckless little human with his life, and to never be a beast again.

Instead he'd watched, helpless, as Han was stabbed to death by his own son. And now these people – noncombatants, civilians, _innocents _– were just as helpless, standing by the remains of their companion.

He was still hungry, but now the smell of roasting meat made him nauseated.

He didn't want this. He didn't want a galaxy where the strong preyed on the weak without consequences, even if the strong ones included himself. Luke could lecture about the balance of life and death as much as he wanted, but there had to be a better way of evening the scales than this. There had to be a way to protect these little creatures – and not only these, but humans too and whoever needed it – so they could live in peace.

He stamped out the fire, piled earth and stones over the ashes, removed the body from the spit and laid it down in front of the mourners.

"I am sorry," he said.

He bowed his head, wishing he spoke their language to apologize, but knowing it wouldn't matter. If they forgave him, it would still be more than he deserved.

Some of them scattered at once, vanishing into burrows or behind dunes. Others gathered around the body and carried it away, chirping very softly in unison, perhaps praying or singing. One let out a piercing cry that seemed to echo across the whole island. But another, with light brown and white fur, stood as tall as they could and looked squarely up into Chewbacca's face. Slowly, deliberately, they returned the bow.

Then they darted away into the long grass so fast that all Chewbacca's eyes saw was a blur.

He hauled his old body up to his feet. There had to be protein bars left over somewhere on the _Falcon_, and if not, they would just have to leave this forsaken ball of rock and get back to the Resistance. He had no patience with whatever Jedi games Luke and Rey were playing.

The sooner they ended this war, he thought, the better.


End file.
